Chapter 177: Rewarded

"What nonsense are you spouting, Maelle?! I am her father, and you are her sister! You should know better than to say things that are not true."

Vilhelm hit his cane on the hard floor, and his irksome guest flinched. Maelle, on the other hand, her face crumpled, and she looked like she might cry.

A nuisance.

She only served one purpose: a cover. She and her mother both. However, she wouldn’t be content with her role, and her whining had ruined everything he had worked so hard for.

"Father!"

"Pour the guest more tea, Maelle."

Her back straightened, and she turned to do as he requested. Her hands didn’t shake as she picked up the kettle and poured its contents into the irksome guest’s cup. However, she looked like she might cry.

She was his daughter, alright. Unfortunately, she had to pick up the incessant whining from her mother. Lydia had found out who Maya really was, and she had to go. He was still unsure how she had pieced it together.

"Thank you, High Alpha," Alaina said with glee as she picked up the tea again.

He had seen the look on her face as she began to tell him all about her failure and how her terrible mistake had sent Maya into that woman’s hands.

Something he had spent nearly two decades preventing, and she expected to be rewarded. And that she will be.

"No, thank you," he replied.

She brought the tea to her nose and scrunched her face, but she obediently took another sip. Her body was starting to tell her something was amiss.

"After your tea," he said to encourage her some more. A greedy brat she was. He had read all about her demands. "I will tell the servant to show you to your room."

"You are most generous," Alaina replied with a huge smile as she put down the cup.

"Drink up."

"I am quite—"

"Drink up. Maelle, pour her more tea, will you?"

"I—no. This is more than enough."

"You won’t refuse my hospitality now."

"No, it’s just—I feel a little warm." She pulled at her neck.

"Maelle, open the windows. Must be from the journey. You are dusty, dirty, and barefoot," he stated harshly.

Alaina blushed fiercely. "I—"

"I know. You rushed here to give me the news as quickly as you possibly could, and I appreciate that. This information is worth its weight in gold."

Alaina smiled, her brown eyes sparkling, and she lifted the cup to her lips once again, but it didn’t make it to her lips as a cough escaped her lips and blood spilled into the cup.

Her hand shook, and her guts twisted. Her first thought was that her wounds had reopened again. However, one look in the High Alpha’s direction was all she needed.

There was no shock on his face and she might have dared to say that he looked particularly pleased.

The cup fell out of her hands, splashing a mix of tea and blood everywhere. Vilhelm grimaced as a drop got on his clothes.

She tried to speak, stretching her hands toward him, but more blood poured out of her lips. She slipped off the chair, fell to the ground shaking.

Vilhelm picked up his heavy cane and was about to stand on his feet when he noticed Maelle standing by the open window.

Her eyes were wide enough to reach the back of her head and her eyes were locked on the slowly dying body of his unwanted guest.

He let out a groan and lifted from his seat. Leaving the cane, he crossed over Alaina’s convulsing body to reach her.

He placed his hands on her shoulders so that she would look at him. "Maelle," he gently called. "She needed to be punished. We had an agreement, and she failed to keep her end of the bargain."

"And Mother?" Her voice croaked.

"An unfortunate accident. She didn’t know about the kettle."

"Are you going to kill me too?"

"What? You are my beloved daughter. I would never. You and Maya both. All I need is to get her home, and we will be one happy family again."

"And Mother?"

"Unfortunately, there is no cure for silver poisoning. As soon as she drank from the kettle, it was over. There was nothing I could do." His voice shook lightly, and water pooled in the corners of his eyes.

"But Maya isn’t even your daughter."

"Not directly but we share the same blood. She is the daughter of my dead brother. Her father was brutally murdered, and I tried to keep her safe. It might seem like all these years I have shown her more affection, but I just wanted her safe. You are my daughter, always."

"Father," she smiled as a single tear ran down her eye. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face against his chest.

Vilhelm winced and pulled his hand away from her shoulders. He stepped back, breaking the hug. "Tell the guards to take care of her body, discreetly." Not that it mattered; she was a nobody from an abandoned town. "I have somewhere to be."

"Shall I come with you, Father?"

"Not yet," he replied with a stiff smile. "But worry not, Maelle. We will be together again."

Vilhelm picked up his heavy cane and pushed Alaina to confirm she was dead before briskly walking out of the drawing room without looking back.

He stood in front of his mansion with an angry expression as his carriage pulled up.

"The Royal Palace," he said to the coachman as he got in.

It would take him some hours to get to the castle, which was most unfortunate. Time was of the essence.

If Azura—there was no if. Azura was behind this. The supposed tsunami was enough of an indication. It was the reason Verlassen was dangerous.

She must have planned to wipe out the whole kingdom. She might not have succeeded, but she would have easily buried Verlassen.

Now she had Maya.

He hit his cane onto the ground, snapping one of the wooden pieces that made up the bottom of the carriage. He had to get her back. No matter what he had to do.